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Art Education Certification

Graduates of the Art Education Certification Program at Shippensburg University will be well prepared to teach art in grades K-12 in both public and private venues.

Art Education Certification at Ship

This concentration provides a cost effective art certification degree to teach art in grades K-12 by offering: 1) courses already offered within the curricula of the education and art and design departments, and 2) an additional art teaching practicum in which teaching art competence is demonstrated. This program is designed to enhance the career options of art majors.

The College of Education and Human Services has long been regarded as an excellent place in which to learn teaching skills. The Department of Art and Design is fortunate to have a close and productive association with the educational professionals in this college.

Education faculty have been very active in their fields of expertise and in working in teams with other colleagues to develop special programs. They belong to, and hold offices in, state and national professional organizations and serve on a large number of university-wide and departmental committees. Many faculty have published articles, written books, or have taken sabbaticals to complete research or to engage in additional studies.

Ship’s exceptional faculty members are active in their local community organizations or write educational columns for newspapers, provide consulting services, serve on school boards, make PTO presentations, and present workshops to teachers and administrators at state and national professional meetings. Literacy skill development in the workplace is another way that some faculty support local industries.

The quality of our programs is evidenced by the quality of students and a large applicant pool, retention data, curriculum revisions, and sustained enrollments.

Art Education Admission and Degree Requirements

Freshmen are selected for initial entry into programs through the Admissions Office. Teacher preparation programs are “capped” enrollment and therefore are the most difficult to enter at the university. Standards for admission include the top one-third of their high school class and an SAT score of 1060 or higher. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA or above to remain in teacher preparation programs at Shippensburg. Transfer students, both internal and external, and those already possessing a degree are selected for the Art Education Certification Program based on the following criteria:

Academic proficiency in college or university coursework, including professional education courses with a cumulative 3.0 GPA by end of 60 credits.

A grade of C or higher must be achieved in all courses.

Must pass the Praxis I: Basic Skills proficiency from the Educational Testing Service (ETS).

Review of a writing sample, a small portfolio of artwork, and a personal interview with members of the art and design and education departments.

Students will be selected from candidates who have fulfilled all the above requirements.

Students enrolled in the Art Education K-12 Certification program will take the required courses of the art major, the required general education courses, in addition to the following education courses:

Art Practicum, Student Teaching

Educational Psychology

Introduction to Exceptionalities

The American School

Elements of Instruction

Social Structures of Aesthetics, Philosophy & Criticism in the Arts

Contemporary Methods in Art Education

Students will practice their teaching skills in many of the courses taken as part of the Art Education K-12 Certification program. They will write lesson plans, teach classes, and evaluate their work. Later in the program, each student will have a one semester, 15-credit teaching practicum where they will work with supervising faculty in both elementary and upper-level teaching environments.

Students must pass all required PRAXIS examinations. These include:

Praxis I: Academic Skills Assessments are designed to be taken early in a student’s college career to measure reading, writing, mathematics skills and general content knowledge. The reading, writing, and mathematics assessments are available through either a paper-based or computer-based format. Praxis I examinations must be passed when 45-60 credit hours are completed and before students apply for professional standing in Art Education.

Praxis II: Subject Assessments measure candidates’ knowledge of the subjects they will teach. The Art Education Praxis Examination: 10133 Art: Content Knowledge must be taken for Pennsylvania Department of Certification in Art Education K-12.

Praxis II must be completed before student teaching. Students should plan on completing these tests prior to, or at the beginning of, their senior year.

Careers in Art Education

The program’s mission is to develop individuals who possess the knowledge, skills, experience, and compassion to be effective teachers in public, private, and commercial settings. Graduates will understand the psychology of artistic development and will know how to integrate that knowledge in teaching art to people of differing ages and ethnic backgrounds. This program enables students to:

Promote visual literacy (e.g. the understanding of a work of art through its connections with history, criticism, aesthetics, culture, style, and the formal elements).

Demonstrate the ability to create and solve the production of original, visual forms of expression in different media designed around a theme and to promote the interdisciplinary importance of art making as a method of knowing.

Develop critical thinking in strategies of inquiry, iconology, and comparative studies that will promote cross-cultural and ethnically diverse methods of art making.

Establish methods of working and understanding the creative process and production in a variety of two- and three-dimensional media graphics, computers, painting, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, and conceptual/interdisciplinary work styles.

Develop methodology for effective teaching, create lesson plans appropriate for a variety of academic venues, learn how to communicate effectively, be able to demonstrate effective technical skills, and understand the role of art education in human development.

Student Organizations & Resources

Art and Design faculty have regular exhibitions of their artwork, work in national and international venues, and are continually engaged in the process of art making. Art and Design faculty participate in student extracurricular clubs such as the arts exhibitions (designing and building the exhibitions in the Kauffman Gallery), Visivo (making of the annual art magazine,) and Student Art League (visiting galleries, museums, critiquing artwork, and making artwork).